Legumes as the side dish
Lowers LDL by a measurable range. ApoB, glucose and HOMA-IR stay without a number. Whether the purines raise uric acid is not quantified here and remains an unconfirmed offset.
Order of magnitude
Three to four portions of lentils, beans or chickpeas per week in place of the usual side dish.
Ha 2014: 26 RCTs, LDL-C −0.17 mmol/L at a median 130 g/day of cooked pulses. ApoB and non-HDL-C were not significant (G-L2). There is no pooled size for uric acid; the draft row only applies from 6 mg/dL, because plant purines raise urate less than meat purines.
Effects in detail
Each row is a directed edge from our database, with range, latency, evidence grade and the condition under which it applies at all.
| Marker | Effect | Latency | Mode of action | Outcome | Evidence | Condition | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apolipoprotein B | helps. Lowers -6.60 mg/dL confidence interval of the estimate, not the range one person can expect 26 isocaloric randomised trials with 1037 participants give an LDL-C reduction of 0.17 mmol/L (95 % CI -0.25 to -0.09), about 6.6 mg/dL. Graded B rather than A despite being a meta-analysis of randomised trials, because of that internal inconsistency, short trial durations and the research group's extensive food-industry relationships. Trial proxy: ldl_c. | 3–3 weeks | chronic | unclear | Evidence grade B | applies regardless of the starting value | |
| Systolic blood pressure | helps. Lowers -2.25 mmHg confidence interval of the estimate, not the range one person can expect Eight isocaloric controlled feeding trials in 554 participants give a systolic reduction of 2.25 mmHg (95 % CI -4.22 to -0.28) and a diastolic reduction of 0.71 mmHg that was not statistically significant. Grade B: only eight trials and 554 participants, with significant heterogeneity for every outcome. | 3–3 weeks | chronic | unclear | Evidence grade B | applies regardless of the starting value | |
| HbA1c | helps. Lowers -0.28 units of glycosylated blood protein confidence interval of the estimate, not the range one person can expect Forty-one randomised controlled experimental trials found that pulses within low-glycaemic-index diets lowered glycosylated blood proteins by 0.28 (95 % CI -0.42 to -0.14), and pulses alone lowered fasting blood glucose by 0.82 mmol/L. Grade B rather than A because the pooled outcome mixes HbA1c with fructosamine, so the number is not a clean HbA1c estimate, heterogeneity was high and unexplained, and the effect appears only when pulses are eaten as part of a low-GI or high-fibre diet rather than added to any diet. | 3–3 weeks | chronic | unclear | Evidence grade B | applies regardless of the starting value |
What this measure costs
Counteracting effects of the same measure.
No counteracting effect is on file for this measure. That does not mean there is none, only that we found no defensible edge.
Moves without implying progress
Informational or no established effect: the marker moves or was checked, and that is not progress.
| Marker | Effect | Latency | Mode of action | Outcome | Evidence | Condition | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apolipoprotein B | checked, nothing happens. No established effect The pulse meta-analysis reports no significant effect on apolipoprotein B or on non-HDL cholesterol. This pair of rows is the cleanest illustration in the database of why the app distinguishes ApoB from LDL-C. | not specified | chronic | unclear | Evidence grade B | applies regardless of the starting value | |
| Diastolic blood pressure | checked, nothing happens. No established effect confidence interval of the estimate, not the range one person can expect Eight isocaloric controlled feeding trials in 554 participants give a systolic reduction of 2.25 mmHg (95 % CI -4.22 to -0.28) and a diastolic reduction of 0.71 mmHg that was not statistically significant. Recorded as a no-effect row: the diastolic point estimate was -0.71 mmHg with a 95 % confidence interval of -1.74 to +0.31 and a p value of 0.17, so no effect size is entered. | 3–3 weeks | chronic | unclear | Evidence grade B | applies regardless of the starting value |
Sources
Full details of every study the rows above rely on.
Effect of dietary pulse intake on established therapeutic lipid targets for cardiovascular risk reduction: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Ha et al. · CMAJ · 2014 · Meta-analysis
Effect of dietary pulses on blood pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled feeding trials
Jayalath et al. · American Journal of Hypertension · 2014 · Meta-analysis
Effect of non-oil-seed pulses on glycaemic control: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled experimental trials in people with and without diabetes
Sievenpiper et al. · Diabetologia · 2009 · Meta-analysis